Apple Computer Inc. may have tipped its hand on Wednesday, by revealing its new line of Power Mac G5s based on the dual-core PowerPC processor.

The notoriously secretive computer maker's new lineup includes single chip models running at 2GHz and 2.3GHz and a dual-processor machine with 2.5GHz chips. Apple also updated its PowerBook portable line.

By moving to the dual-core PowerPC chip, a move that's been anticipated since IBM officially unveiled its dual-core PowerPC 970MP earlier this year, Apple also communicated something else.

"The IBM 970MP is locked, loaded and ready to go. There's no reason why Apple would forgo putting that chip into its systems," said Kevin Krewell, editor in chief of the Microprocessor report.

Moving to the latest PowerPC chips also gives Apple some breathing room on the high-end line while software makers rewrite applications and its own teams work to get other products out the door. Apple is most likely to move some of its older designs based on G4 processors to Intel chips before transitioning the Power Mac line.

Apple's PowerBook line, which Apple updated on Wednesday with higher resolution screens, is the most likely candidate, followed by the Mac Mini.

The PowerBook could move to Intel's Yonah chip, a dual-core version of its Pentium M that's due out in January, early next year, analysts predicted.

"My expectation is the Intel chips would appear first in [Apple] notebooks and maybe consumer Macs," said Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research Inc.

"There's lots of reasons to do it that way. One is there's lower risk for Apple and there's greater need. If you look the notebook line...you still have the [1.67GHz] G4 processor. That's where the need is greatest [for an upgrade]." Yonah is expected to offer twin processors, each with speeds of around 2GHz.

Yonah was designed specifically for notebooks. But Intel has also been pitching it for small desktops. It's part of the company's Golden Gate PC reference design, which is about the same size as an external PC DVD drive, for example, showing it fits just as easily into tiny desktop machines like the Mac Mini.

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